That sound you hear? That’s Samsung rubbings its metaphorical hands together in gleeful anticipation after the United States Patent and Trademark Office smacked Apple’s patent for “pinch to zoom” technology down. That same patent helped Apple win its case against Samsung and win it $1.05 billion as a result. So if that patent should never have been granted, Samsung thinks there should be a whole new trial.

Samsung filed the patent office’s findings this week with the Federal District Court in San Jose, reports the New York Times, claiming that smackdown should be factored into whether or not it gets a new trial.

Apple will likely seek to appeal the office’s ruling, which means it’s not totally invalid yet. Patent, No. 7,844,915 addresses the difference between a single-touch on a screen and multitouch gestures, or as Apple calls it, a “scroll versus gesture” feature.

Apparently the office felt there was already technology out there that covered the same sort of thing before Apple went out and got a patent on it.

It’s one of six that helped convince a jury to rule against Samsung, and is the second one that the patent office has decided should never have been granted. The office announced in October that the patent for a digital page’s “bounce” feature when a finger strokes the screen from top to bottom was also erroneously issued.

Despite all that money Apple is supposed to get in damages, things have not been going well for the company in its U.S. battle against Samsung. Earlier this week, a judge denied the company’s request to ban a number of Samsung devices for sale.

U.S. Office Rejects 2nd Apple Patent [New York Times]

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